This class provides access to the Data Protection API (DPAPI) available in the Windows XP and later operating systems. This is a service that is provided by the operating system and does not require additional libraries. It provides encryption for sensitive data in memory.

The class consists of two wrappers for the unmanaged DPAPI, Protect and Unprotect. These two methods can be used to encrypt and decrypt data in memory.

using System;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
publicclass MemoryProtectionSample
{
publicstaticvoid Main()
{
// Create the original data to be encrypted (The data length should be a multiple of 16). byte [] secret = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4 };
// Encrypt the data in memory. The result is stored in the same same array as the original data.
ProtectedMemory.Protect( secret, MemoryProtectionScope.SameLogon );
// Decrypt the data in memory and store in the original array.
ProtectedMemory.Unprotect( secret, MemoryProtectionScope.SameLogon );
}
}